The overall purpose of this unit is to demonstrate to students the role volcanoes play in shaping Earth's landscape and the effects volcanoes have on human life. This unit is composed of many hands-on activities which help students to model volcanic eruptions and visualize the effects of these eruptions. The unit opens with a lesson that demonstrates what is happening inside the earth to create volcanoes. The next few lessons allow students to investigate different kinds of rocks and the different minerals that they are composed of. The investigation of rocks helps students learn about the rock cycle, which is a cycle that is moved along by volcanic processes. In the lessons following the rock cycle, the students will learn about volcanic ash and the effects it has on human life and weather when it falls. After this, students will learn about the different types of volcanoes and how each type of volcano helps to change Earth's landscape. Finally, the last lesson of the unit gives students the opportunity to apply volcanoes to real life by discussing the Hawaiian volcanoes and the myths that were created by natives to help explain them.
To try and keep the lessons in this unit interesting and relevant to students, I have used a variety of teaching strategies. Some of these strategies include using literacy, inquiry, and technology in the classroom. Some of the literacy strategies that I have included are reading for content and creative writing. Some of the technology strategies I have included are using web animations and movie clips in class discussions and student use of the school computer lab for research. Finally, I have included some inquiry activities which allow students the opportunity to investigate different unit concepts, just as real scientists investigate out in the field.
Formative Assessment is the part of my instructional process which provides me with the information I need to adjust teaching and learning while it is happening. It informs both myself and the students about student understanding at a point where adjustments can still be made. These adjustments will help to ensure that my students are meeting the learning objectives and performances that have been set. In this unit I have included at least one formative assessment in each lesson. These assessments are usually worksheets or drawings that allow me to see at a quick glance whether or not the students have grasped a concept. My plan is to have a class work grade for each day that will be worth a small percent of the quarterly grade (perhaps 5%). To save on time, students will receive full credit as long as the class work is done on a given day. I will mark it in my grade book with a check if it was completed and a blank if it was not completed. This grade is meant to help the students' grades and to allow me to see whether or not the students are meeting the set checkpoints of that day's lesson. If I see through these assessments that students do not understand concepts, I can slow down my lessons or I can review the concept. I will also be using class discussions at the end of class which should help me determine whether or not the students have understood the lesson.
Summative Assessments are assessments that are given periodically to determine, at a particular point in time, what students know or do not know about a topic. The most common example of a summative assessment is an end of unit exam, but more recently these forms of assessments are being replaced with performance based assessments. A performance based assessment allows students to carry out the activities actually used in the real world. It helps measure skills that can not be assessed well with pen and paper such as, independent judgment, critical thinking, and decision making. For my unit, I have chosen to assign a performance based assessment for my summative assessment. This assessment will require students to apply all of the units central concepts to one project. I will be able to measure whether or not the students have understood the main themes of this unit without having to put them under the pressure of a written exam.
I have used both of these types of assessments because summative assessments happen too far down the learning path to provide information at the classroom level and to make instructional adjustments and interventions during the learning process. To accomplish this, I included the daily formative assessments.
According to the National Science Education Standards, learning science is an active process. While constructing this unit, I tried to create lessons which require students to use both physical and mental activity and lessons which reflect the intellectual and cultural traditions that characterize the practice of contemporary science. To accomplish this I tried to incorporate lesson that focused on inquiry. The importance of this "active" learning process is that it helps students stay engaged because it demonstrates the relevance of scientific concepts to the outside world. Furthermore, this unit was designed for middle level students who usually have a lot of energy and benefit from being able to move about. These active practices will allow students to do just that.
Another technique that I used in preparing this unit was incorporating literacy. Literacy is an important issue in schools all across the country and I believe that it should be incorporated into all content areas. To integrate literacy into some of my lessons, I have added classroom activities such as reading for content and creative writing. I have also substituted readings from a second textbook on specific lessons where I found the regular textbook to be insufficient.
Finally, while creating this unit I tried to build each lesson off of its predecessor so that the students will be given the opportunity to construct a framework that will allow them to build new knowledge on their existing prior knowledge. Also, each lesson is set up in a format which helps to establish a routine within the classroom. Most of the lessons open with some form of an introduction activity, which is followed by one or two activities, and then closed with a review. This design allows the students to activate their prior knowledge, learn and practice new concepts, and then use a form of metacognition that gives them a chance to look back at what they have just learned.
Title: VOLCANOES
Author: Liza Ginis
Grade Level: 8
Course: General Science
Purpose of Volcano Unit:
The overall purpose of this unit is to demonstrate to students the role volcanoes play in shaping Earth's landscape and the effects volcanoes have on human life. This unit is composed of many hands-on activities which help students to model volcanic eruptions and visualize the effects of these eruptions. The unit opens with a lesson that demonstrates what is happening inside the earth to create volcanoes. The next few lessons allow students to investigate different kinds of rocks and the different minerals that they are composed of. The investigation of rocks helps students learn about the rock cycle, which is a cycle that is moved along by volcanic processes. In the lessons following the rock cycle, the students will learn about volcanic ash and the effects it has on human life and weather when it falls. After this, students will learn about the different types of volcanoes and how each type of volcano helps to change Earth's landscape. Finally, the last lesson of the unit gives students the opportunity to apply volcanoes to real life by discussing the Hawaiian volcanoes and the myths that were created by natives to help explain them.
To try and keep the lessons in this unit interesting and relevant to students, I have used a variety of teaching strategies. Some of these strategies include using literacy, inquiry, and technology in the classroom. Some of the literacy strategies that I have included are reading for content and creative writing. Some of the technology strategies I have included are using web animations and movie clips in class discussions and student use of the school computer lab for research. Finally, I have included some inquiry activities which allow students the opportunity to investigate different unit concepts, just as real scientists investigate out in the field.
Assessment Plan:
Formative Assessment is the part of my instructional process which provides me with the information I need to adjust teaching and learning while it is happening. It informs both myself and the students about student understanding at a point where adjustments can still be made. These adjustments will help to ensure that my students are meeting the learning objectives and performances that have been set. In this unit I have included at least one formative assessment in each lesson. These assessments are usually worksheets or drawings that allow me to see at a quick glance whether or not the students have grasped a concept. My plan is to have a class work grade for each day that will be worth a small percent of the quarterly grade (perhaps 5%). To save on time, students will receive full credit as long as the class work is done on a given day. I will mark it in my grade book with a check if it was completed and a blank if it was not completed. This grade is meant to help the students' grades and to allow me to see whether or not the students are meeting the set checkpoints of that day's lesson. If I see through these assessments that students do not understand concepts, I can slow down my lessons or I can review the concept. I will also be using class discussions at the end of class which should help me determine whether or not the students have understood the lesson.
Summative Assessments are assessments that are given periodically to determine, at a particular point in time, what students know or do not know about a topic. The most common example of a summative assessment is an end of unit exam, but more recently these forms of assessments are being replaced with performance based assessments. A performance based assessment allows students to carry out the activities actually used in the real world. It helps measure skills that can not be assessed well with pen and paper such as, independent judgment, critical thinking, and decision making. For my unit, I have chosen to assign a performance based assessment for my summative assessment. This assessment will require students to apply all of the units central concepts to one project. I will be able to measure whether or not the students have understood the main themes of this unit without having to put them under the pressure of a written exam.
I have used both of these types of assessments because summative assessments happen too far down the learning path to provide information at the classroom level and to make instructional adjustments and interventions during the learning process. To accomplish this, I included the daily formative assessments.
Rationale:
According to the National Science Education Standards, learning science is an active process. While constructing this unit, I tried to create lessons which require students to use both physical and mental activity and lessons which reflect the intellectual and cultural traditions that characterize the practice of contemporary science. To accomplish this I tried to incorporate lesson that focused on inquiry. The importance of this "active" learning process is that it helps students stay engaged because it demonstrates the relevance of scientific concepts to the outside world. Furthermore, this unit was designed for middle level students who usually have a lot of energy and benefit from being able to move about. These active practices will allow students to do just that.
Another technique that I used in preparing this unit was incorporating literacy. Literacy is an important issue in schools all across the country and I believe that it should be incorporated into all content areas. To integrate literacy into some of my lessons, I have added classroom activities such as reading for content and creative writing. I have also substituted readings from a second textbook on specific lessons where I found the regular textbook to be insufficient.
Finally, while creating this unit I tried to build each lesson off of its predecessor so that the students will be given the opportunity to construct a framework that will allow them to build new knowledge on their existing prior knowledge. Also, each lesson is set up in a format which helps to establish a routine within the classroom. Most of the lessons open with some form of an introduction activity, which is followed by one or two activities, and then closed with a review. This design allows the students to activate their prior knowledge, learn and practice new concepts, and then use a form of metacognition that gives them a chance to look back at what they have just learned.
Unit Plan Evaluation